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AS a child with allergies and sensitivities, Rhonda Muller learnt early on that health and nutrition were the starting points for a good life.

She was allergic to medicines so when a doctor gave her a script, she couldn't take it.

What she ate became her medicine and years later it would become her passion, and a business that helps people to understand why they are not well, and gives them the support to find their best health.

After researching everything she could and watching her son grow in health, friends were starting to ask how she did it.

From the kitchen table where she demonstrated healthy cooking and the spare room where she would research, to the lounge room where she would hold workshops, Mrs Muller started a business, that keeps expanding.

"We outgrew where we were working from. My husband said 'that's it, I'm kicking you out'. Once we had enough interest we knew moving into a premises was the way forward," she said.

Her business on Nebo Rd, ASD Healthy Life now includes a paediatric occupational therapist, a functional medicine nutritionist, speech therapist and English tutoring.

"We look at the science behind the individual so you can determine their bioindividual needs, (using pathology)," she said.

"Before this I was doing small-business coaching, working from home. Ever since I was little I wanted to be a doctor or a dietician.

"Being so sensitive to medications as a child naturally steered me towards natural health and wellness. If I could do things with minerals or vitamins or essential oils, I would. That's where I started to do my research and study for my own benefit."

While managing health and well-being using alternatives to medicine might be more mainstream now, it wasn't when Mrs Muller was a child.

"It wasn't common at all. But it depends who you surround yourself with," she said.

"I always surrounded myself with people who were open to looking at natural ways of healing. Our first medicine was herbs plants and essential oils.

"That's one thing I love about Mackay, how open people are becoming to natural health and wellness options. People need answers not band-aids.

"People are more interested in why. Knowledge is power. Mainstream medicine has its place. It's fantastic. But your symptoms are just the tip of the iceberg. When you look at why, these things can dissolve, reduce or be better managed."

Originally coming from Bundaberg, Mrs Muller married her childhood best friend, Steve and they followed his work to Mackay. As a busy mum, she was busy juggling four children, caring for her father in law who was recovering from a stroke and trying to make sense of a child who had become very ill. It was a time she said when she nearly reached breaking point.

"We nearly lost him twice. He was having seizures," she said.

Mrs Muller often has people who come to her with ear, nose and throat problems, colic, tiredness, gut problems, asthma and allergy symptoms.

"A lot of the time we are not looking at why it's happening. Usually it comes down to an imbalance of gut flora and food sensitivities. They are the two big things for a lot of people," she said.

She finds people who don't take no for an answer inspiring. "Like Oprah Winfrey. She was constantly told no," she said. "She was a black woman who wasn't stick thin. But she just believed in herself and had confidence. Sometimes, no does need to be listened to, but especially with the challenges I've faced (with health), if I'd taken their answers as gospel, god knows where I'd be."

Mrs Muller leads shopping tours to make getting healthy easier. "I work on the 80/20 rule. You have to be naughty 20% of the time," she said. "I'm very passionate about small steps and knowledge. We pass our knowledge to them, so they become the healer."